About William / Lamochattee "Red Eagle" Weatherford, Chief

Weatherford, William, c.1780–1824, Native American chief, b. present-day Alabama, also called Red Eagle. In the War of 1812 he led the Creek war party, stirred by Tecumseh, against the Americans. On Aug. 30, 1813, he attacked Fort Mims, a temporary stockade near the confluence of the Tombigbee and Alabama rivers. There his warriors, refusing to heed his plea for restraint, massacred some 500 whites. In the battle of Horseshoe Bend on the Tallapoosa River (Mar. 27, 1814), Gen. Andrew Jackson completely broke the power of Weatherford and his nation. Weatherford was pardoned by Jackson, who admired his courage, and he lived peaceably in Alabama until his death.

See G. C. Eggleston, Red Eagle & the Wars with the Creek Indians of Alabama (1878).

Buried at Little River Baptist Church. Ceremony overseen by his mother Sehoy III also listed as having died March 9 1822..

William Weatherford aka Lamochattee aka Red Eagle, was born about 1780, the son of Scottish trader Charles Weatherford and a Creek chieftain's daughter. In his early thirties he became an ally of Tecumseh, and led one of the Creek factions to resist the advance of the white frontier. After an attack by white frontiersmen upon a party of Creeks returning from a trading expedition to Florida, Red Eagle assembled a force of a thousand warriors and trailed the attackers to Fort Mims, an outpost north of Mobile. On August 30, 1813, they overran the poorly defended fort and after , refusing to heed his plea for restraint ,killed about five hundred of its 550 occupants, who consisted of whites, black slaves, and Creeks loyal to the U.S. The Fort Mims massacre brought several columns of militia and regular Army troops in pursuit of Red Eagle's warriors. With Menewa and other Creek leaders, Red Eagle built a stronghold at Horseshoe Bend on the Tallapoosa River. On March 27, 1814, General Andrew Jackson's forces surrounded and severely defeated the Creeks. After the battle, Red Eagle boldly entered Jackson's headquarters, surrendered, and promised that if his life was spared he would spend the remainder of it working for peace. Impressed by the man's courage and intelligence, Jackson pardoned him. Red Eagle kept his word, settled on a plantation in Monroe County, Alabama, and was accepted in the community as a man of peace and strict honor. This great American Indian leader died March 9, 1822, shortly before his people underwent their mass removal to Indian Territory.

“I am a soldier, I have done the white people all the harm I could.

I have fought them and fought them bravely. If I had an army I would yet fight!”

-------------------- Samuel Moniac was approached by Indian Agent Benjamin Hawkins to go with a group of men to capture William Augustus Bowles, "a bizarre character". A Maryland Tory who resigned his British Army commission in Pensacola in 1778 to live among the Creeks, Bowles proclaimed himself "Director General" of the Creeks, and contended against Alexander McGillivray and others for Creek influence. Bowles travelled with sixty bodyguards, and despite a $4,500 reward put up by Vicente Folch, the Spanish Governor at Pensacola, "no Indian attempted to win the award" until Moniac and his group did. They traced Bowles to an Indian Council in May of 1803 at Hickory Ground. When Indian Agent Benjamin Hawkins announced he had come to arrest Bowles, the Bowles supporters showed signs of resistance.

Nevertheless, Hawkins told Red Eagle and Sam Moniac to arrest Bowles, and "to the sound of scores of rifles clicking to the cocked position", Moniac and Red Eagle, with reckless courage, seized Bowles, spirited him out of the most sacred spot in Indian territory, and put him in a pirogue and paddled down the Alabama River. Four nights later, camping on an island near Salem, Bowles stole the boat and escaped, but they caught him in the cane across the River, took him to Pensacola and delivered Bowles to Spanish Governor Folch, who handed over the $4,500 reward, and put Bowles on a succession of ships which landed him in New Orleans and on to Cuba, where he died in a military hospital.

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Chief Red Eagle grave site, Baldwin County marker.William "Red Eagle" Weatherford, (1765 – March 24, 1824), was a Creek (Muscogee) Native American who led the Creek War offensive against the United States. William Weatherford, like many of the high-ranking members of the Creek nation, was a mixture of Scottish and Creek Indian. His father was Charles Weatherford, a Scottish trader and his mother was Sehoy III. Due to his mother's mixed lineage and his father's Scottish heritage, Weatherford was only one-eighth Creek Indian.[1] Though the exact location is unknown, descendants of Weatherford like Rachel Weatherford generally agree that he was born in Alabama around 1781. His "war name" was Hopnicafutsahia, or "Truth Teller," and was commonly referred to as Lamochattee, or "Red Eagle," by other Creeks.[2] William Weatherford was the Great grandson of Jean Baptiste Louis DeCourtel Marchand, the French commanding officer of Fort Toulouse who was murdered in 1722 in a mutiny. He was a nephew of Alexander McGillivray [1], and by marriage, the nephew of Le Clerc Milfort. He was also a cousin of William McIntosh.

During the Creek Civil War, in February 1813, Weatherford reportedly made a strange prophecy that called for the extermination of English settlers on lands formerly held by Native Americans. He used his "vision" to gather support from various Native American tribes who, despite similar prophecies used before by other tribes, eventually united against tribes that did not believe his prophecy. Late in August 1813, he led a war party against Fort Mims on the lower Alabama River.

Weatherford is considered to be the architect of the Fort Mims Massacre, although one account indicates that he tried to stop the massacre after the fort was captured but was unable to do so. His grandson maintained that Weatherford was opposed to the attack because some of his own relatives had taken refuge in the stockade; however, there is no record of this to date and Weatherford did in fact participate in the battle. It is agreed that the many Red Sticks who harmed women and children did so despite his orders.

Sehoy III and Red Eagle graves in the distance with an information sign in foreground.Red Eagle also participated in the Canoe fight with Sam Dale of the Alabama Militia, the Battle of Holy Ground, where he escaped capture. William Weatherford was not at the climactic Battle of Horseshoe Bend as has been asserted in several accounts.

William Weatherford was among the 200 Red Sticks who escaped after the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. However, he did not flee to Florida[3], but voluntarily turned himself in at Fort Jackson (formerly Fort Toulouse). Andrew Jackson spared Weatherford and used him to bring the other Upper Creek to a peace conference.

After the war, Weatherford became a citizen of the lower part of Monroe County, Alabama, where he became a wealthy planter. He died there in 1824.

55. WILLIAM "RED EAGLE"7 WEATHERFORD (CHARLES6, MARTIN5, RICHARD R.4, WILLIAM WHITHEFORD/3, JOHN WHITHEFORD/2, THOMAS1 WHITHEFORD/WEATHERFORD) was born 28 Sep 1780 in Alabama River, Coosada, Elmore Co., Alabama, and died 24 Mar 1824 in Little River, Baldwin Co., Alabama. He married (1) MARY ELIZABETH MONIAC 1801 in Alabama, daughter of WILLIAM MONIAC and POLLY COLBERT. She was born Abt. 1783 in Alabama, and died 1804 in Point Tholy, Lowndes Co., Alabama. He married (2) SOPETHLINA KANEY THELOTCO MONIAC 1813 in Alabama, daughter of JOHN MONIAC and MARY TYNER. She was born Abt. 1780 in Alabama, and died Abt. 1814 in Coosasa, near Montgomery Co., Alabama. He met (3) LILA BEASLEY Bet. 1813 - 1817 in Alabama, daughter of COL. BEASLEY and UNKNOWN. She died Unknown. He married (4) MARY STIGGINS 1817 in Mt. Pleasant, Monroe Co., Alabama, daughter of JOSEPH STIGGINS and NANCY GREY. She was born Abt. 1783 in Alabama, and died 1832 in Mt. Pleasant, Monroe Co., Alabama.

Notes for WILLIAM "RED EAGLE" WEATHERFORD: William is my third cousin, eight times removed. William was our Creek Chief, Indian name was Lamochattee and Tustenuggee. Some researchers claim his birth to be 28 Apr 1765, but that would make his mother Sehoy a child of only six years old which of course is inconceivable. Some researchers also state that he had other children before he married Sopeth and that he had maidens and also other wives such as Lila Beasley which he supposedly had married in 1815 and supposedly had married a Miss Tunstall. I have not seen proof of this at this time. Also stated that he had maidens whom he fathered children. Also later, on an Alabama Census for 1820, it lists Lamochattee; Tecumseh was Relative, Tecumseh and Seekaboo's mother were sisters. Seekaboo's father was a half-blood. Red Eagles War name was Hopnicafutsahia, which meant Truth Teller. This was given to him by the Red Sticks after the death of McGillivray.

Georgia Battles 1812 Autosee-Tallasee and Camp Defiance by Barbara Winge "CAMP DEFIANCE - Jan 27, 1814 The General did not quit the army in consequence of his wound, but having partially recovered after much suffering advanced again from Fort Mitchell, in January, 1814, and was attacked before day light on the 27th of that month at Camp Defiance, by the enemy in great force, headed by the famous warrior Weatherford, and aided by Colonel Woodbine, an English officer who boasted afterwards of having planned the attack. [This attack was to prevent a junction of the Georgia troops, under Gen Floyd, and the Tennesseans, under Gen Jackson, which was desired by both Generals. who passed letters to each other by Indian runners and spics. The junction was never formed. The success of each General rendered it unnecessary.] The Georgia troops were encamped in the form of a parallelogram, cavalry and baggage in the centre, with two pieces of artillery [four pounders, taken in the Revolution at Saratoga] on the right and left faces of the camp. The fight was furious for several hours, and nothing but the firmness of troops saved them from destruction. The formation was bravely maintained under an incessant fire, (which was returned with great vivacity) until sunrise. The enemy were then charged and routed at the point of the bayonet, leaving a great many of their dead on the field. On their retreat, 15 were sabred by the cavalry. Our loss was considerable, and we had a great many wounded. The campaign terminated soon after the battle of Camp Defiance, and General Floyd was appointed to command the troops at Savannah, for the protection of the city. He remained in command at Savannah, until the termination of the war."

Red Eagle was at the services for the death of his great uncle Alexander. Red Eagle was dressed in his finest. He wore a black plume in mourning. After Alexanders death, Red Eagle stepped up his campaign to succeed him as emperor of the Creeks. He spoke to all councils from Mobile into Muscle Shoals on the far side of Tennessee. On his campaign trail, he was dressed in his shining white buckskins, which included a luxuriant red egret plume sweeping from the Scottish Tam of the Clan McGillivray, he was a splendid firebrand! A man who was just impossible to be ignored! This is when the young Senator Andrew Jackson began to take notice as our William stepped up his activities. Jackson would collect the information he wanted on this new Chief through a wandering riflemaker and trader by the name of Russell Bean, which Bean would deliver a story back to Jackson in 1850. As Bean sat at Emuckfau and watched as this new Chief seemed to have control of the Creek law, A young girl was accused of infidelity by her spouse. By Creek law, you are aloud to prove your innocence on the spot. The accused young maiden was taken to a wide meadow and stripped of her clothing. Fifty yards away, the eagerly waiting warriors awaited. A white stake was driven into the ground about 300 paces from her. At the signal from William, the girl bolted for the white stake with the warriors in exhilerating pursuit. With a 50 yard head start and unhindering by clothing, it was assumed the girl had a fair chance to outrun the warriors. If she reached the stake ahead of them, her husband was judged guilty of falsely accusing her and she would be allowed to set out one of a number of interesting punishments for him. But if the warriors caught her, she would be brought before the Chief who had the right to take her to his lodge and turn her over to the warriors afterwards. The chase that Bean had observed, the girl was of beautiful qualities, so the warriors chased at full-force. Bean stated that she didn't seem to be trying to hard to out-run them. They brought her to stand with downcast eyes before the stern gaze of her handsome young Chief. William then pointed toward his lodge. The girl obeyed eagerly. Within an hour of Bean whittling in the waiting, the young girl reappeared and looking very triumphant or cleansed of her shame? As he told this story to Jackson, it became quite clear that William was well respected and followed and in a better position than any white man could be with the Creeks. This in turn led Jackson to believe that he wanted to meet with this man. Bean had reasurred him that he believed he would be meeting him indeed! As you read about Beans story, you also become aware that in the Cherokee tradition, a woman being chased is part of the marital rituals. But it's the future husband that is doing the chasing... Umm... Red Eagle goes on to participate in full in the Creek War. He participated in the Kimbell-James Massacre, the Canoe Fight with Sam Dale and his forces against Red Eagle and the Red Sticks, the Battle of Holy Ground with the Red Sticks, being lead by a half-breed prophet by the name of Paddy Welsh, mounted on Arrow, his black steed and favorite of his horses, the Battle of Talladega, to the Battle of Horseshoe Bend ( which I am to understand that he had left before the fighting here had begun. General Andrew Jackson's forces which included Davy Crockett and Sam Houston joining with the Choctaws and the other tribes against the Red Sticks and this ends the War. After the terrible defeat at Horseshoe Bend in 1814, Red Eagle does go to Ft. Jackson ( formerly known as Ft. Taulouse) and surrendered to General Andrew Jackson. General Jackson was filled with sympathy and admiration for the noble chief, so he takes Red Eagle to his own home in Nashville, TN. ( This is the information according to Dr. Marion Elisha Tarvin ( David Tates grandson). He claims the only man in Alabama to know of Red Eagle's whereabouts while Red Eagle stayed at the Hermitage. Red Eagle lived out his days as a well to do and well respected planter in Monroe Co., AL. He died following a bear hunt and is buried next to his mother in a grave near Little Tallassee. Woodrow Wallace shares the story of Red Eagle's demise from Dreisback stating that Red Eagle goes on a hunting trip and seeing the white deer among all the brown ones and reads therein his own death, going home from the hunt, he dies three days later, dreaming of departing hand in hand with Sopath Thlaine. The graveyard of his family is now a county park, dedicated to him. My research suggests he had three wives and only one was a full blood Creek. The state did not require that his children move to Oklahoma, but one of his sons as well as his grand daughter Josephine Howell did. William was tall in statue, had lighter bronzed skin and he had such dark brown eyes they appeared to be black. He was a man of fine sense, great courage, and knew alot about our government and mankind in general. He had lived with his half brother, Davy Tate who had been an educated and well informed man. He had also been with his brother-in-law Sam Moniac, who was always looked upon as being one of the most intelligent half-breeds in the Nation. In his obituary, it lists his widow as being Mary, with surviving children to be Charles, Alexander, Washington and Levetia. It lists Sopeth as mother of his illigitament son William. It claims he had suffered fatigue while on a bear hunt at Lovett's Creek on the 29 of Feb after he had seen the Albino deer which I have made previous mention of. Red Eagle was a hero who tried to free his people from oppression and to restrict land ownership on Indian lands...

Notes for MARY ELIZABETH MONIAC: William took to Mary's beauty, she was the most beautiful girl in the Nation. Which he then took her for his wife. He moved about with her as his mistress in Pensacola, Mobile and New Orleans. The Americans had no idea that this beautiful couple of a very high social standard was the Red Eagle that they had been hearing about. Mary's grave was not marked before the date of 1925. It is unknown to me at this time, if it is now marked.

More About WILLIAM WEATHERFORD and MARY MONIAC: Marriage: 1801, Alabama

Notes for SOPETHLINA KANEY THELOTCO MONIAC: After William's first wife Mary Moniac had died, his second wife was Sopeth (her nickname) who was also cousin to William's first wife Mary "Polly" Moniac but Polly died in 1804 so she couldn't have been William's mother. I have seen her full name as stated to be Sopethlina Thelotco Kaney Thlaine Moniac. Researchers claim that she was a full-blood from the Fish Clan. She and William were married under Indian Law. From a letter written on 20 April 1925 from Mrs. C.A. Sizemore addressed to the Alabama Archives, she states that Sopethlina was a Full-Blood Creek Indian and that she and William only had one child of their marriage whose name was William who later left Alabama and headed to Indian Territory and he later died in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Such as the grave of Mary, Sopeth's grave was also unmarked. Sopeth died immediately after she gave birth to William.

More About WILLIAM WEATHERFORD and SOPETHLINA MONIAC: Marriage: 1813, Alabama

Notes for LILA BEASLEY: At this time, Lila IS NOT a proven spouse of William "Red Eagle." I am placing her here for research purposes only. I have received info. stating her as a wife, but this WILL need to be researched further. She supposedly was united with Red Eagle shortly after the Ft. Mims Massacre which would have been around 1813.

More About WILLIAM WEATHERFORD and LILA BEASLEY: Partners: Bet. 1813 - 1817, Alabama

Notes for MARY STIGGINS: Mary and William were married under "white law" after the death of his second wife Sopeth. Mary is buried with other Stiggins at the Baptist Church, Little River. Her wooden marker was destroyed by a brush fire. Mary's mother Nancy "Haw" Gray was a Natchez Indian. BUT... in a letter from Mrs. C.A. Sizemore to the Alabama Archives on 20 April 1925, she claims that Williams third wife was Mary Stiggins who was a white woman. Mary may have been considered white, but she was 1/4 Indian. Sam Dale served as Best Man at the Wedding of Red Eagle and Mary Stiggins.

-------------------- Weatherford, William (known also as Lamochattee, or Red Eagle). A halfblood Creek chief, born about 1780; noted for the part he played in the Creek war of 1812-14, in which Gen. Jackson was leader of the American forces. There is some uncertainty as to his parentage. Claiborne (quoted by Drake, Inds. N. Am. 388, 1860) says his "father was an itinerant peddler, sordid, treacherous, and revengeful; his mother a full-blooded savage of the tribe of the Seminoles." Another authority says that a trader, Scotch or English, named Charles Weatherford (believed to have been the father of William), married a half-sister of Alexander McGillivray (q. v.), who was the daughter of an Indian chief of pure blood. In person he was tall, straight, and well proportioned, and nature had bestowed upon him genius, eloquence, and courage, but his moral character was far from commendable. He led the 1,000 Creeks at the massacre of Ft Mimms, Aug. 30,1813. Gen. Jackson having entered the field, the Creeks were driven from point to point until Weatherford resolved to make a desperate effort to retrieve his waning fortunes by gathering all the force he could command at the Great Horseshoe bend of the Tallapoosa. The signal defeat his forces suffered at this point ended the war, and Weatherford, to save further bloodshed, or perhaps shrewdly judging the result, voluntarily delivered himself to Jackson and was released on his promise to use his influence to maintain peace. He died Mar. 9, 1824, leaving many children, who intermarried with the whites. It is said that after the war his character changed, and he became dignified, industrious and sober -------------------- Creek Indian --------------------

Red Sticks led by Red Eagle attacked the American outpost of Fort Mims near Mobile, Alabama, where white settlers and their Indian allies had gathered. The Red Sticks captured the fort by surprise, and a massacre ensued, as prisoners — including women and children — were killed. Nearly 250 died, and panic spread across the American southwestern frontier.

The Red Sticks surrendered to Jackson on August 9, 1814. The Muscogee nation was forced to sign the Treaty of Fort Jackson, which ended the war and required them to cede some 20 million acres (81,000 km²) of land—more than half of their ancestral territorial holdings—to the United States. Even those who had fought alongside Jackson were compelled to cede land, since Jackson held them responsible for allowing the Red Sticks to revolt. The state of Alabama was carved largely out of their domain and was admitted to the United States in 1819.